'Best decision I made': Biden boosts Harris to unions, steel workers on Labor Day
WASHINGTON— President Joe Biden gave Vice President Kamala Harris a robust endorsement at a Labor Day rally, telling union workers during their first joint campaign appearance since he left the Democratic ticket that she's more than capable of leading the country.
"Let me tell you about this woman," Biden told workers in Pittsburgh with Harris at his side. "I know her," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I trust her."
Biden said that choosing Harris was "the single best decision I made as president of the United States of America."
"I know she'll be a good president. I know it," he added.
Harris, who Biden said he's observed behind the scenes with experts on foreign and domestic policy, "has a backbone like a ramrod. And she has the moral compass of a saint. This woman knows what she's doing. Folks, I promise you, if you elect Kamala Harris as president, it will be the best decision you have ever made."
Seeking to shore up her support from blue-collar voters, Harris opted to campaign alongside Biden on Monday in Pennsylvania and wade into a fight over the ownership of one of America’s largest steel producers. Her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, and his running mate stayed off the campaign trail on Monday.
Harris said Biden is a lifelong "friend" of the labor movement, noting that when the "heat was intense" and the cameras were not rolling that he has always stood with labor. "And you know how Joe can get sometimes, he doesn't spare words," she said to laughter.
"Joe Biden can be quite impatient. And that's a good thing for that kind of leader," she said, arguing that history will show that he has been "one of the most transformative presidents" in American history.
In the Pittsburgh remarks, Harris also said that U.S. Steel, which made a deal last year to be acquired by Japanese-owned Nippon Steel Corporation, should remain domestically owned and operated. The proposed merger has not yet received U.S. regulatory approval and is opposed by the United Steelworkers, a labor union that has endorsed Harris.
Biden came out against the $14.9 billion deal in March and declared on Monday that the company "would remain" an American company.
"When you're in Pittsburgh, you're standing with steelworkers. Let's be clear: I believe in American steel companies. American operated and owned steel companies," Biden said.
The decision is up to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Harris declared in her remarks, "U.S. Steel is an historic American company, and it is vital for our nation to maintain strong American steel companies, and I couldn't agree more with President Biden.
"U.S. Steel should remain American owned and American operated," Harris said. "And I will always have the backs of America's steel workers. And all of America's workers."
Nippon Steel said in a Monday statement shared with USA TODAY that the "entire American steel industry will be on much stronger footing" because of its "investment in U.S. Steel," adding that it "is the only willing and able party to do so."
"We believe that a fair and objective regulatory review process will support this outcome, and we look forward to closing the transaction as soon as possible," the company said.
In an official statement, U.S. Steel said that it "will be a much stronger company as a result of the transaction with Nippon Steel, and the American steel industry will be more globally competitive."
It added, "In Pennsylvania alone, U. S. Steel employs nearly 4,000 hard working men and women – and this is the best deal for them and the communities where they live."
Labor transfers support to Harris
Biden has close and longstanding relationships with labor leaders who are pledging to turn out the vote now for Harris.
The road to the White House runs through union halls, AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler said at the Monday event. In Pennsylvania, she said, one in five voters is a union member. "So we are the difference maker," Shuler told the crowd. "We have the people, we have the trust, we know how to organize."
Adopting the "Promises Made, Promise Kept" slogan that Trump used in 2020 and turning it into a chant in support of Biden-Harris administration's economic agenda, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers president Kenneth Cooper said the sitting president is "more than just . . . the most pro-union president" in the history of the country.
"When he passed the torch to Kamala Harris, he ensured his pro-union, pro-labor legacy would continue with the next administration," Cooper said.
Labor Day push: In battle between Trump and Harris, both campaigns target the Blue Wall
Harris visited Detroit on Monday afternoon. She joined Biden in Pittsburgh, home to U.S. Steel, later in the day.
"We celebrate unions, because unions helped build America and unions helped build America's middle class," Harris said in a Detroit speech that was also attended by national labor leaders.
Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, met with labor leaders from his state in St. Paul in the morning. Walz also attended the Milwaukee Area Labor Council’s Labor Fest in Wisconsin on Monday.
His motorcade was involved in an accident in Milwaukee, injuring members of his staff and the traveling press corps. After they received medical treatment, Walz continued to the event.
"We know exactly who built this country. It was labor that built this country," he said at the festival. "When unions are strong, America is strong."
Biden also intends to travel to Wisconsin and Michigan this week on an official visit that the White House says will focus on his economic agenda.
Union support critical for Harris
The president enjoys strong support from labor that Harris sought to capitalize on Monday in Allegheny County, a populous area where it’s critical for her to drive up turnout to win Pennsylvania. It’s was her second trip to the Pittsburgh area in roughly two weeks — a demonstration of just how critical her campaign believes western Pennsylvania is to winning the election.
Biden played up his Pennsylvania ties, reminding attendees he was born in Scranton.
"It means so much to be with a true friend, a true friend, the vice president and the next great President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris," he said pointing in her direction.
Biden, who walked the United Auto Workers picket line in Michigan last fall, said he and Harris have a shared support for unions and referred to her throughout his Monday speech as he brought up their joint work. "I'll be on the sidelines, but I'll do everything I can to help," he said of a potential Harris administration.
Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania are toss-up states in the election, and both the Republican and Democratic parties have been heavily courting their voters. Trump and Ohio. Sen. JD Vance held events in the trio of states last week. Trump has plans to return to Mosinee on Saturday.
But neither he nor Vance had Labor Day campaign events, essentially ceding the campaign trail to Biden and Harris.
"Do you think this guy gives a damn about your pensions?" Biden asked workers during his remarks.
Read more: Biden looks to union members, opposes sale of US Steel to Japanese company
Harris immediately set to work on securing the support of the largest national labor unions after Biden quit the race in late July. She has received endorsements from the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, the United Steelworkers, the UAW, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees and many others.
She said in Detroit said that the labor movement's approach is instructive for the country.
"While we are fighting so much nonsense that is about trying to divide our country, trying to pull us apart, look to what the history and the present of labor tells us about the power of the collective and unity, the spirit of that work, as much as the product of that work," Harris said.
One endorsement that has eluded Harris so far is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Teamsters’ president Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention — an offer he said at the time that he made to both major political parties.
O’Brien said Sunday during an appearance on the CBS program “Face the Nation” that his union wants to meet with Harris before it determines which candidate to support. Half of the union’s 1.3 million members are Republicans and half are Democrats, he said.
“We want the opportunity to sit down with Vice President Harris,” he said. “You don’t hire someone unless you give them an interview.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris courts blue-collar workers, unions with Biden on Labor Day
